


The beginning of the end

by Cissmoll



Category: Final Fantasy XIII Series, Final Fantasy XIII-2
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-10 00:12:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2003394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cissmoll/pseuds/Cissmoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hope and Noel have to tell Snow about Serah. Takes place after the ending of FFXIII-2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The beginning of the end

When Snow finally arrived in Academia, Hope and Noel was already waiting for him outside the Academy’s headquarters. Two weeks had passed since the chaos of Valhalla flew through Etro’s gate and into the mortal world, leaving a trail of mayhem and destruction in its path.

Noel cast Hope a quick glance. “You should be the one to tell him,” he said. “He trusts you.”

“I know.” Hope watched as Snow stepped of his motorcycle. As soon as he noticed them he gave them a wide smile and began to jog towards them. Hope’s heart ached. He knew that the moment he delivered his tragic news, Snow would never be the same again.

“Hey, is this my welcome-home party?” Snow said, coming to a stop in front of them. “I’m sorry about the delay, I had to work my way through some of those weird black clouds. Did you know that dark stuff makes the monsters even stronger? I didn’t notice it until I ran into behemoth. Almost lost an arm.” He laughed, looking relaxed and carefree as usual.

“We call them chaos infusions,” Hope explained, his heart sinking. _He really doesn’t know._ “We don’t know exactly what they’re made of yet, but we think they originated in Valhalla. Listen, Snow…”

“So, where’s the rest of the gang?” Snow interrupted, looking around them. “Hasn’t Lightning returned yet? And where’s Sazh and Dajh?” He frowned. “Where’s Serah?”

_Here it comes,_ Hope thought, taking a deep breath. “Sazh and Dajh are exploring this new chaos-infused world on their airship. We still don’t know where Lightning is.” He swallowed hard. “Serah… Serah is gone.”

Snow narrowed his eyes. “Gone? What do you mean, ‘gone’?” he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

“She had a final vision, and then she… She died, Snow. Serah is dead.” Hope couldn’t even bring himself to look at Snow, so he fixed his gaze on the ground.

Snow remained silent for a while, processing Hope’s words. “No,” he finally whispered, “that can’t be true. I was supposed to bring back Lightning and then we were going to get married. We were finally going to get married!” He punched the wall, leaving a fist-sized hole in the bricks. “No!” he screamed, giving the wall another punch. “I protected the crystal pillar. I protected the world. Why? Why did the world take Serah from me?” He sank down on his knees, his body trembling. “I was supposed to protect her. It was my job to keep her safe.”

Hope put a hand on Snow’s shoulder. “We all did our best. You protected the crystal pillar, Noel protected the timeline and I created a new Cocoon. I don’t know why things ended up like this. We sure as hell didn’t deserve it.” He blinked away some unshed tears from his eyes. “Especially not Serah.”

Noel put his hand on Snow’s other shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice full of guilt and regret. “I tried to protect her. I thought we were safe, but then… I’m sorry. I couldn’t save her.”

They stood like that in silence. Even though the memory of Serah’s death was still painfully fresh, Hope knew he would soon have to leave his grief behind to lead his people into this new, chaos-infused reality. He had a responsibility as the Director to always be calm and confident, to be a beacon of hope for the world – even if the world looked like it was about to fall apart. _This is only the beginning,_ he thought bitterly. _The beginning of the end._


End file.
